Tromso Chess Olympiad Round 5: Kramnik vs Topalov

Thus far, the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway has lived up to all the hype surrounding the event. Almost all of the top chess players in the world are competing for personal glory and, more importantly, national pride. Even with hundreds of exciting games played in each round, all eyes were focused squarely onto the Russia-Bulgaria match which featured a game between the rivals, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.

It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly eight years since Topalov’s manager threatened to abort a World Championship Match because of complaints about Vladimir Kramnik’s bathroom habits. The publicity surrounding the complaint grew exponentially and soon there was more newspapers reporting about “Toilet Gate” than about the actual games from the match. The jokes about Kramnik’s bathroom habits took a toll on the Russian and Topalov nearly used his ill gained initiative to take the title. However, Vladimir Kramnik managed to bounce back just in time to tie the match and win in the rapid play tie-breaks. Even becoming the undisputed World Chess Champion could not take all the sting out of the cheating claims that Team Topalov attacked Kramnik with.

Fast Forward eight years and the two enemies were again separated by a mere eight chess ranks. Below is my take on Vladimir Kramnik’s beautiful win over Veselin Topalov at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway.

Bb2 34.Bxc6 {Now that Kramnik has achieved his dream of two connected passed pawns, white is clearly in the driver’s seat.}

Position after 34. Bxc6

Rad8 {?} {Topalov panics about the passed pawns and misses a critical alternative. As we are about to witness, rooks have a very hard time stopping passed pawns from the front side.}( 34…Rab8 35.Nb1 Qf6 ( 35…Qc4 36.d7 Rfd8 37.Qd6 ) 36.Qd2 Rb3 {!} {This line seems necessary for Topalov to survive but deserves more study from chess enthusiats the world over.})

35.Nb1 {!} {Kramnik punishes Topalov!}

Qf6 36.Qd2 Rb8 {Topalov transfers his rook to the open file which is where it should have landed in the first place.}

37.Be4 {It’s been a while since we have seen Vladimir Kramnik play with this much purpose.}

e5 38.Nc3 {Perfect timing on reactivating the knight. Can you guess where Kramnik intends to place it?}

Position after 38. Nc3

Qe6 {Topalov threatens the pawn on “h3.”}

39.Nd5 {Kramnik is not worried about “h3.” He has bigger fish to fry!}

Qxh3 {Topalov’s queen says, “Zdravei!”}

40.Bg2 {Kramnik’s bishop says, “Do sveedaniya!”}

Qh5 41.d7 {!}

Position after 41. d7

exf4 42.Qxf4 Bxa3 {Topalov creates his own passed pawn.}

Position after 42… Bxa3

43.Qxb8 {!} {Vladimir Kramnik is not impressed by Topalov’s pawn grab and delivers a near fatal blow to the Bulgarian.}